Sparks From Train Ignite Valley Fires Six Blazes Brought Under Control Without Injury Or Loss Of Buildings

For the second time this summer and the fourth time since 1996, sparks from a passing train have set fire to trees and brush north of the town of Mica.

On Monday, six fires were started near the intersection of state Highway 27 and Dishman-Mica Road when a Union Pacific train passed through around 4 p.m., said Eric Martensen, fire unit control forester with the Washington Department of Natural Resources.

Four of the fires covered one acre, one was six acres and the largest burned 20 acres, Martensen said.

No one was injured and no buildings were destroyed. However, the largest blaze came within a quarter mile of half a dozen homes.

“We were real lucky today - no wind,” Martensen said. “If there had been a little more wind, we’d have lost some residences.”

A month ago, sparks from a train caused a small fire in the same area, said District 8 chief Dan Stout.

Stout said the district responds to fires caused by trains in the area every year.

Thirty years ago when Kay Crist moved just over the ridge from the tracks, a fire caused by train sparks came up the hill and into her back yard, she said.

“Every year we wonder why someone doesn’t do something about it. Every year they don’t, and every year we get another fire,” she said.

Crist said she wasn’t particularly worried about Monday’s fire. It was a lot farther away than a 1996 fire that burned 30 acres before being extinguished.

Union Pacific spokesman Mike Furtney said he had no specific information about the fire and couldn’t comment on whether it was caused by a UP train.

“Certainly, fires started by trains aren’t unknown,” he said.

If a UP train caused the fire, the railroad will investigate, he said.

Spokane and DNR firefighters responded en masse to the complex of fires with more than 120 personnel and 20 fire trucks on the scene.

A twin-engine plane was dumping 1,400 gallons of fire retardant per pass on the blaze within 40 minutes of the fire being called in.

After three hours, the fires were under control and the plane was replaced by a helicopter with a huge water bucket.

The temperature was 101 degrees and the relative humidity a measly 15 percent when firefighters arrived on the scene, Martensen said.

“We are definitely in our fire season,” he said.

Five to six fire tenders were there to monitor the fire area throughout the night, he said.